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Curried Pasta and Vegetables – A Vegan Pasta Dish

Madhuram — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:55:40 +0000

Recently I have been seeing a lot of Indian/Indianized recipes in the Western cookbooks. The Curried Pasta and Vegetables is one such recipe from the book “1001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes”. As the name suggests the book has 1001 low-fat vegetarian recipes; from appetizers to desserts the recipes are classified under 17 categories. I think I have to keep renewing this book in the library at least for 2-3 months.

Coming to this recipe, I adapted it from one of the recipes in the book. This is also a vegan pasta dish, without any cheese. Since the pasta gets it’s flavor from the curry sauce, the taste gets even better the next day. So you can prepare this on Sunday evening and have it for Monday’s dinner. The curry sauce can also be prepared ahead and it’s also versatile. Just throw in the vegetables you have at hand, the curry sauce and the pasta, you have a wholesome and nutritious meal ready in no time.

Ingredients

Vegetables of your choice – 2 cups (I used a combination of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots readily available in the frozen food section, 16oz pack)

Dry Pasta of your choice – 1 cup (I used Whole Wheat Penne)

Cilantro, chopped – 1/4 cup

Salt and pepper, to taste

Curry Sauce – Recipe follows

For the Curry Sauce

Olive Oil – 1 teaspoon

Onion, finely chopped – 1/4 cup

Garlic, minced – 4 cloves

All purpose flour – 2 tablespoons

Curry Powder – 2 teaspoons

Cayenne Pepper/Chilli Powder – 1/4 teaspoon

Vegetable Broth – 2 cups

Cornstarch – 1 tablespoon

Dry white wine or Water – 1/4 cup (I used water)

Salt and pepper, to taste.

Step-by-Step Procedure For Curry Sauce

1. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil to a medium saucepan; saute onion and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Stir in flour, curry powder and chilli powder. Cook 1 minute, stirring.

3. Add broth and heat to boiling.

4. In a small vessel combine the cornstarch and water, until the cornstarch dissolves without forming any lumps. Add this mixture to the boiling broth and bring it to a boil, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. (Actually it took more than a minute for the mixture to thicken.)

5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Assembling the Pasta

1. Steam the vegetables for 8-10 minutes if using frozen vegetables. If using fresh ones 6-8 minutes should be fine. Sprinkle some salt and toss the vegetables once, while steaming.

2. Cook pasta as per the instructions in the package. Drain it, reserving around 1/4 to 1/2 of the pasta cooked water.

3. Combine together the steamed veggies, pasta and the curry sauce. Check for seasoning and sprinkle cilantro.

This is my entry for the following events
1. Suganya’s Vegan Ventures
2. Mansi’s Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Garden Vegetables And Navy Beans Vegan Soup – Your Recipe Rocks

Madhuram — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:48:37 +0000

As most of you know, throughout last week I was worried about my mom’s safe journey to US and now that she has arrived I’m a little busy, so I have not been able to visit all your blogs or reply individually to all your lovely comemnts. So please excuse me, I’ll catch up with you guys very soon!

This week I tried RedChillies’ pasta and beans soup. The soup is very simple to make but has a lot of flavors going in from the peppers, celery, garlic and oregano. I didn’t have mini peppers, so used a combination of regular size red pepper, yellow pepper and green pepper. I also used extra 3 cups of vegetable broth. (Look “My Notes”) Thank you for the recipe RedChillies.

My Notes:
I always prepare my pasta and beans soup directly in a pressure cooker. I don’t cook the pasta separately. I add all the ingredients for the soup, including the pasta and extra water or vegetable broth as required and leave it for 1 whistle and turn off the stove. The pasta is cooked to perfection and also has the flavor of all the vegetables, tomatoes and herbs because it is cooked with it instead of plain salted water.

Since I made the soup in a pressure cooker directly, I’m sending this to Archana’s One Dish Meal Event. The cooking time is approximately 30-45 minutes inculding prep time and the measurement yields 4-5 servings easily.

JZ at Tasty Treats has passed me the Rocking Girl Blogger Award.

Thank you very much JZ. I would like to pass this award to
RedChillies
Roma

Red Lentil and Vegetable Soup

Madhuram — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:34:37 +0000

I found this recipe in the “Good Housekeeping” magazine. This recipe was featured under Heart Smart Dinners and Healthy in a Hurry category. With 16gms protein, 13gms fiber, 0mg cholesterol and just 1gm saturated fat per serving, it’s definitely heart healthy. Added bonus, very tasty and easy to prepare too.

I reduced the quantity of ingredients. Even then it was a lot of soup for the 2 of us. I have another serving left for tomorrow. Check the original recipe for actual quantities and detailed nutritional information.

Ingredients:
Olive oil – 1 tablespoon
Carrots, medium, chopped – 3
Onion, small, chopped – 1
Ground Cumin – 1 teaspoon
Canned diced tomatoes (14.5 oz) – 1 can (I didn’t have this, so used crushed tomatoes)
Vegetable broth (14.5 oz) – 1 can
Dried red lentils (masoor daal) – 3/4th of a cup
Baby Spinach (5 oz bag) – 1 (I used frozen spinach)
Salt – as per taste
Ground black pepper – as per taste
Grated ginger (this was not mentioned in the original recipe, but I chose to use it because red lentils especially has the reputation to cause gas)

Procedure:
1. In a saucepan heat oil and add carrots, onion and cook until lightly browned and tender. Stir in cumin; cook 1 minute.

2. Add tomatoes, broth, lentils, 2 cups of water salt, ground black pepper cover and cook until lentils are tender. Stir in spinach.

My Notes:
1. I soaked the lentils before starting to chop the vegetables. I did this because I thought that this will reduce the cooking time and it did. Later only I came to know that soaking the lentils and throwing away the water and then using the lentils aids in easy digestion. Just be sure to throw away the soaking water. Enjoy!